Railway-tie



s'. MGBLF-ATRIGK. RAILWAY TIE.

Patented Z4, 1893,

(No Mdel.)

' Unirse raras Partant @ninna SAMUEL MCELFATRICK, OF PRINCETON,KENTUCKY.

RAI LWAY-Tl E.

SPECIFICATION forming' part 0f Letters Patent N0. 490,586, dated January24, 1893.

Application filed March 4:, 1892- Serial No. 423,703. (No model.) Y

To all whom it may concern.-

i Be it known that I, SAMUEL MCELFATRICK, of Princeton, in the county ofCaldwell and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and ImprovedRailway-Tie, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to improvements in metallic railway ties, and theobject of my invention is to produce a simple form of tie which may beeasily shaped and consequently cheaply made, which may be quickly andsecurely placed in position on a roadbed, and which may as easily beapplied to the rails and will hold them so that they cannot get loose.

To this end, my invention consists in arailway tie, the construction ofwhich will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a'plan view of the tie embodying my invention, showing insection two rails secured thereon; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thetie, showing the rails in section; Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation ofthe straining bar which forms the inside clamp of the rails; Fig. t is across section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a plan view of amodified form of the tie, showing in section a pair of rails thereon;and Fig. 6 is a cross section of the same, on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

The body 10, of the tie is a fiat, plain metal plate high enough toextend beneath a pair of rails, and having on one edgeadepending flange11, adapted to be embedded in the roadbed of a railroad, and having onthe opposite edge a vertical flange 12, which is cut away or recessednear the ends, as shown at 13 in Figs. 1 and 2, and the end walls 14 ofthe recesses, that is, the adjacent portions of the flange 12, projectinward so as to form clamps adapted to fit upon the outer sides of theflanges of the rails 15. The flange 12 is cut away at the point 13,through its entire height, so that the rails may rest flatwise upon thebody 10 of the tie. A straining bar 16 forms the inside clamp of therails, this bar having a bottom flange 16, which is adapted to extendbeneath one edge or side of the body l0, as shown in Fig. 4, thusstrengthening the same, and the flange 16 also strengthens the strainingbar. The straining bar is adapted to extend between the two rails 15,and its ends are notched as shown at 17, the upper walls 18 of thenotches being shaped to fitr snugly upon the inner flanges of the rails15.

The straining bar 16 is perforated near the center, as shown at 19, sothat it may be fastened to the Harige 12 of the tie body 10, by means ofabolt 20. The straining bar would undoubtedly stay in place without thebolt, but it is better to use it to provide against any possibledisplacement; but it will be seen that the bolt may be dispensed with,and it will also be understood that the middle portion of the flange 12of the tie body, and the bottom flange 16a of the straining bar, couldalso be dispensed with without departing from the principle of myinvention, but it is better to use the iianges named for the reason thatthey strengthen the tie and it may consequently be made of lighter metalWhere the iianges are used.

The straining bar 16 is applied as follows: The rails 15 are placed inthe recesses 13 of the tie body, and pushed to the outer eX- tremitiesof the recesses so that the walls 14 of the flanges 12 will fit upon therail iianges; then one end of the straining bar 16 is placed so as toclamp the inner flange of one rail, the bar being placed diagonallyacross the track, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the free endof the bar may then be driven to place against the body of the tie andagainst the opposite rail, thus forming an inside clamp for each rail,4and the rail will thus be held firmly between the outer clamps formedby the recessed flange 12 and the inner clampson the notched ends of thestraining bar.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I have shown a modified form of the tie, and in thiscase the flat body 10 has a depending iiange 11 formed near its centerinstead of at one edge, and the fiange l2 on the upper side is alsoproduced near the center of the body, but this iiange is exactly similarin construction to the flange 12 already described. The straining bar 16is used as in the previous ease, but a longer fastening bolt 2Oa issubstituted for the bolt 20, as the straining bar and flange ,12a willnot touch each other.

From the foregoing description it will be IOC) seen that this tie isextremely simple and tha it will oost but little to make it. It Will bealso noticed that the rails are held Without spikes, that they may bequickly secured to 5 the tie, and that the tie will hold thein so thatthey cannot possibly be displaced by aceident,

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters 1o Patent,-

The combination, of the Hat tie body having clamping devices near itsends to fit the outer fianges of the rails, and a straining bar adaptedto extend .between the rails and fit their inner flanges, the strainingbar having I5 a bottom flange extending' beneath the body of the tie,substantially as described.

SAMUEL MCELFATRICK.

Witnesses:

EDWARD GARRETT, J. XV. KEARNY, Jr.

